Staggering

[Bob Clay]

If you go outside just after sunset tonight (and for a day or so) and look into the west you will see something fairly amazing.  Venus and Jupiter are in conjunction, two very bright objects shining out of the night sky like the distant headlights of some cosmic vehicle.

Venus, brightest thing in the night sky after the Moon, and Jupiter, the giant planet with the stripes, moons by the dozen and weather systems that could swallow the Earth. There they shine in spectacular glory seemingly floating on top of each other up there in the mighty black.

It's an illusion of course, it's merely a line of sight thing, those two planets are roughly a half a billion miles apart in reality.  Put it another way, get in your car, pump her up to a ton (100mph) and drive around the clock, day in day out, week in week out, year in year out ... and even after 500 years of that you still wouldn't have covered the distance between those two bright sparks of light in the western sky ... which whatever way you look at it, is staggering  ?

[Kristine_ES]

well since you put it that way... it is staggering, that's one long drive.   (ever walk and watch the moon and wind up walking off the curb and into the ditch because you can't take your eyes off the night sky?)  :)  

[Cita]

Did it!  Thank you for the reminder!

[Mike Handley]

Indeed. Love the analogy.

[Teresa]

Always always, thinking about the science above brings me peace.  Feels like home.  Aren't humans made from the stuff of stars?  Beautiful post.  Even if you didn't mean it to be...;-)